Everton seal season's biggest win with emphatic defeat of Sunderland

Sunderland's David Vaughan, right, and Everton's Steven Pienaar battle for the ball during the Premier League match at Goodison Park. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

Magaye Gueye's first goal for Everton ensured David Moyes's side will go into Saturday's FA Cup semi-final above Liverpool in the league, whatever happens at Blackburn on Tuesday evening.

The 21-year-old Frenchman was impressive in Everton's quarter-final replay at the Stadium of Light, although was probably playing here only because Moyes had decided to rest Nikica Jelavic, Tim Cahill and Leighton Baines with Wembley in mind. In a dire first half the home side were predictably toothless up front without Jelavic and pedestrian without Baines's runs and crosses, yet in the second they cut loose to record their biggest win of the season.

Moyes will have to think carefully about Wembley now, because whatever the Everton manager was anticipating when he left out three of his best players it probably was not a four-goal walkover.

The opening goal came from a set piece, but James McFadden's corner had been half cleared before Steven Pienaar turned a loose ball into something more threatening by cueing up Leon Osman on the edge of the area. Simon Mignolet did well even to see a shot that came fizzing at him through a crowd of players, let alone save it, but he could not hold the ball and Gueye snaffled the rebound to score from an angle.

Sunderland could not really complain. Everton were below strength and below par, but playing with only Stéphane Sessègnon up front the visitors rarely mounted any sustained attacks and failed to test Tim Howard all afternoon. They seemed to have given up the ghost long before Pienaar then Osman made the game safe with virtually identical goals.

The first half was undistinguished even by end-of-season standards, only flickering into life for a few moments just before the interval when both sides created chances. Pienaar fired hopelessly high when Everton finally managed to put their first move of the game together, and Marouane Fellaini was just as wasteful when an Osman pass found him a shooting opportunity from close to the penalty spot.

Sunderland then produced a glimpse of quality, Sessègnon going close with an overhead volley from Phil Bardsley's cross from the right, before James McClean cut in from the left on the visitors' next attack and sent a shot narrowly wide. It was dire, unimaginative stuff for the most part, and the only save either goalkeeper had to make in the entire first half came in the 49th minute, when Mignolet dealt comfortably with McFadden's speculative long shot.

Sunderland had a brief chance of equalising through a mix-up between Everton defenders that led to a scramble on the six-yard line, before the game went away from them with two goals in three minutes.

If Pienaar was allowed far too much time to curl a delightfully weighted shot beyond Mignolet from the edge of the area Sunderland failed to learn their lesson, for Osman did exactly the same thing from the same spot on Everton's next attack. By the time Victor Anichebe scored at the second attempt to make it Everton's biggest win of the season, Sunderland just wanted to go home, and it looked as though half their defence already had.